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@sunny45 – I can see this was an oversight on your part. No it isn’t bad practice on your part – it took me about 4 months to realise I hadn’t updated my driver’s licence when I last moved (which I didn’t realise until afterwards was a criminal offence!). Things like this often just happen by accident – however it is a reminder to everyone on here how a minor detail can suddenly be significant!
As you say you can prove your statements are true and hopefully once the ACO knows this it will fine 🙂
Hi trephena , i got the email from the ACO , in the email he told me that my project was overall 25% match but he didn’t sent me the turnitin report , and he also outlined a student name ( I don’t know him) but he said he was from the same mentor and there were some identical words , what should i do now trephena ? Please help
He’s asking me to explain this that what could have occurred and the evidence of drafts and notes of the project , please tell how should I respond to him ?
I would reply and say that although the student has the same mentor you do not know who it is. Also say that you cannot comment about the common words as you don’t know which words he is referring to and could he send you the details please?
It could be that the ACO thinks it may be the mentor circulating other students’ work though and wants you to comment on this. (I’ve heard rumours that OBU thinks in a lot of ACO cases it is often ‘accidental’ plagiarism by the student and that mentors are behind it as they produce specimen work and SLS statements. In fact now mentors have to be listed it’s one way OBU can get rid of mentors who are doing this). I don’t know what relationship you have with your mentor but it may be a case of do you save his skin or yours?
Well if you have drafts etc. you will need to send them to prove you did the work yourself.
@trephena i didn’t appeal to UMC but when i logged into my OBU account today , there was written ” due to previous ACO ruling your fee has been increased to £500 gbp” . My ACO didn’t tell me about this on email. Why is it so and what should i do to get it reduced. I can’t afford that:(
Thanks for your reply trephena , only in this attempt i undergo mentoring with him and he is a listed mentor , forgot to tell you that the word used by the ACO was substantial to that student and some smaller matches to others , what exactly do i have to do now ? Shall i consult my mentor about this ?
I thought the £500 fee was only imposed on UMC cases but as you say it may be because this is not your first referral. I was told that all ACO cases increase costs as it involves paying for the investigation (staff involved and overheads) but that the UMC cases are additional. I suppose they are now taking the view that it may be unfair that the general submission fee has to rise for students who don’t bend the rules to cover all these extra costs so are targeting those who are involved instead.
You can write and say you were not warned about this. You may have a point if they didn’t tell you last time. I am not sure if there is anything in the Info Pack you used ( presumably 2014-2015) but take a look as if you weren’t told and it isn’t mentioned in the Info Pack they may have to back track on this. However it is a warning -they are obviously getting tough on repeat offenders or in serious cases
@trephena i submitted project for the first time . And the result given to me is zero grade. But now there is this resubmission fee of 500£
Ans i think they have allowed me to resubmit even in period 31. As i logged in yesterday and i was able to resubmit but with this increased fee!
I’m really very stressed at the moment and can’t sleep , please guide me what should i do now ? As far as I’m concerned i’m totally confident that I didn’t copy , but how can I comment on something which is not even identified to me ?
@usman – just because he is listed does not necessarily mean he is reputable – all it means is that he did the online mentoring course. I think the idea of listing going forward is that OBU can remove any mentors they suspect of being involved in suspicious work as once they are taken off the list they can no longer mentor.
But you still don’t know which passages the ACO is referring to, so how can you comment? Hard to say whether you should contact your mentor. Do you think he gave you other students’ work? He is bound to try to stop you saying anything out about him as he has a personal interest in maintaining his position as a mentor and earning money from it! You have to decide what is right for YOU.
@trephena please tell me what should i write in my appeal? I mean how should be my tone etc
@kendal – when I say ‘appeal’ I mean email the OBU Office and mention that you have noticed what it says when you log in.
Please search the Info Pack which was valid for your submission (2014-15 for P30). I don’t think it says anything in there about a £500 penalty (but you must check this for yourself). If it doesn’t mention it then you can comment that you think you should have been warned of the full consequences of what an academic conduct office referral would mean.
Remember It may depend on the ACO officer’s decision – I notice in the latest 2015-16 Info Pack p.47 that it sets out all the different decisions: negligence, malpractice, misconduct and where it goes to the UMC as serious misconduct (but I don’t see increased submission fees mentioned there or on p.89). I don’t think you have said what the exact decision was in your case – in my opinion there could be a big difference between what is defined there as Malpractice and Misconduct and I can understand that more investigation is required in Misconduct cases. (As I said previously it seems only fair that those who break the rules should be paying for the investigations rather than increasing the general submission fee for the students who abide by them to cover these costs – but nevertheless this should be clear at the outset to all students).
However whatever the decision they should have made it clear to students in the Info Pack or on the submission website before students submit their work for the first time and if it doesn’t, I think it is reasonable to point this out to them. (Remember to be polite – particularly at this time as the P31 Submission window only closed at midnight last night. – I heard a rumour that because of many students only realising at the last moment that their mentor wasn’t listed they have been very busy trying to sort out this problem and staff could have been working long hours).
Obviously they are going to impose this financial penalty going forward but as I say, it ought to be clear from the very outset. I think these are the main points you need to make in your email. So query it and ask if there is any way you can appeal against the imposition of this fee as you feel the manner it has been imposed and introduced is unfair.
@trephena , thank you
I have checked with the OBU Office and for anyone who the ACO have given a decision of Misconduct there will be a penalty fee of GBP 500 to resubmit their work.
Malpractice (which is a less serious offence see the Info Pack p.47) will still be the usual resubmission fee that applies to that period and the same that all students pay.
@trephena i have received email from ACO he gave me Zero grade for my RAP and also mentioned he will not be referring this to UMC but he will advise ACCA is there any thing to worry about?
@robin442 – The Info Pack sets out the various penalties. To a certain extent as with exam markers, I think ACO officers are bound by specific rules and guidelines about the penalties (so students are treated fairly and consistently whoever is their ACO officer). Misconduct is handed out to the more serious cases of copying/plagiarism and Malpractice for minor infringements of the rules (so does not go outside OBU). I think in your case it is more a ‘caution’ and although ACCA is informed it is for info only and ACCA would not usually act on it unless you had also infringed their rules or if you were involved in another ACO case.
Cases of Serious Misconduct go to the University Misconduct Committee and full details are sent to ACCA if found guilty at the hearing. Lying to an ACO could turn Misconduct into Serious Misconduct – one of the reasons I suggest students fess up as they could turn a bad situation into a much worse one for themselves or a repeat offence could also mean referral to the UMC. So try not to worry too much but make sure you do all your work yourself to avoid a repeat offence.
Hi trephena , i got ACO’s email today , i have sent him the drafts and my workings , he said that it does not explain such a large exact match , he’s asking me for more explanation, but i still have no clue about which passage he’s referring to , because he didn’t sent me the passage , what should i do now trephena ? I’m really worried , i told him that i used sample’s to make my working better , but he’s still not satisfied, I’m really worried please please help me
@trephena , please answer , this is a very stressful period
@trephena , kindly tell me how i should respond to him now , i have sent him all my drafts and notes , he’s asking me to give a better explanation
@Usman – did you ever get a copy of the Turnitin report? You really need this as I guess he means the large tract that you say you took from the exemplar. (It would be coloured text in the Turnitin report). He probably wants to know where it came from e.g. wants to see a copy of the exemplar. Sometimes where another student has used the same exemplar it can match their work but of course sometimes it matches because students copied from each other (and so there was no exemplar from the internet in the first place)
I do know that some ACO officers will tell you straight off that it matches another student so maybe he is holding back on this to see what you say. So don’t lie about it as that will really get them going – they hate to be made fools of – and will increase the penalty. If you copied from someone make a clean breast of it. (But if you didn’t get the Turnitin report you should say you can’t answer properly without knowing what he is referring to – everyone has,a right to know what they are being accused of. You could try emailing the OBU ACCA Office [ ACCA@Brookes.according.UK ] and say your ACO officer didn’t send you the Turnitin report as they can probably sent you a copy if you give your Student reg. No. )
@trephena , shall i ask him again about the more precise detail ? Like the turnitin report ? And i told him that the truth , I don’t know that student he’s referring to , and I can’t even comment on that :/
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